by Jay Toney
"That explains why his cabin is so clean. I knew the three of them were incapable of cleaning up after themselves."
****
Doc and Tanya set the trays of food out on the table, in the anteroom. We all sat around the table, helping ourselves to the food, coffee, and juice. Natty was the only one who wasn't eating. She just played with the food on her plate."
"Natty, dig in, your breakfast will get cold."
"I don't feel like eating."
That was unlike her. Since she discovered food, and its variety of flavors, she gobbled down nearly everything in front of her. "Whats wrong?"
"My tummy doesn't feel so good."
"I can have Kim or Randolph take a look to see whats wrong with your tummy?"
"No."
"Are you crying?"
"No." She got up and went to the weapons station. She lowered her head so we couldn't see her, as she sobbed.
After our meal was finished, we put our disposable products into the recycling chute. Doc gathered the empty trays, placing them on the serving cart. He left a platter of pastries, the coffee and juice dispensers, and a stack of cups on the table, then wheeled the cart back to the officers galley.
"Natty."
"Yes," she mumbled, between sobs.
"You're no good to me like this. Take Tanya and go do something that will make the both of you happy. You are both excused for today."
"But... ."
I hugged, and told her, "Amber and I still love you."
"I can't feel either of you anymore. Its like your gone forever."
"We are only across hall. Just because you don't feel us doesn't mean we don't still love you. Now go." I gave her a playful swat on her bottom, in dismissal.
I looked at the tactical display, on the viewscreen, the Alliance cutters were falling back. Even though they were made for speed, we caught them by surprise, when we departed. Red had also seen to it, that they were positioned where they wouldn't be able to intercept us. His battleship was still on an intercept course, and would be within firing range shortly.
Our countdown clock still showed over three hours, before we could make our jump to hyperspace. "Amber and Jewel, come with me. We have some time and may as well use it for some training. I led them to the port side launch tube. There were now a dozen marauders waiting for use. They had spent some time in the simulators, now was a good time to put them aboard the craft, to get a feel for the real thing.
We each selected a ship and quickly went through the preflight checklist, before boarding the sleek, and deadly, little ships. "Jewel form up on my right, Amber on my left. We will be taking off in formation." I taxied my ship to the center of the launch tube. Amber and Jewel lined up on my wing tips. When they signaled that they were ready, we launched.
It was a textbook takeoff. I was proud of my girls. "Amber and Jewel, stay in formation. I will be taking the two of you through some basic maneuvers." I performed a series of banks and rolls, then added climbs and dives. So far they were doing better than I expected.
I took them through some more advanced maneuvers. These maneuvers were made for atmospheric flight, with gravity to assist, from the planet or moon. They could still be simulated in space, but required greater control. We practiced the Immelmann turn, the Split S, and stalls. So far, so good.
I had them practice, the Cuban Eight, and the Half Eight. When the other trainees caught up with their training, we would begin dog fighting tactics, and weapons practice. It was time to head back. I took them on a lazy circle around the ship, so they would have a straight in approach to the landing bay.
"Landing in formation is easy. You two have already done the hard part. Just follow me. Find your mark on the runway and fly to it. When you are over the runway, cut power and ease your nose up. After your main gear touch down, push your nose down. It's that simple."
"But... "
"No buts, lets go." I eased my throttle back to make the landing slow and easy for the girls. They followed staying in formation. When I was over the runway, I cut power and eased back on the controls. The landing was smooth and easy. However, it went horribly wrong for the girls.
Jewels craft skidded down the runway, on its belly, spinning out of control. When she finally came to a stop, her marauder was still spinning. Amber's landing was worse. When she touched down, she pulled back hard on the controls. The assault shuttle tried to follow her command, and flipped over on its back. Amber got a close up view of the runway, as her craft flipped upside down, skidding down the runway on its twin tails.
From the sounds of their cursing, they couldn't have been hurt bad. The rescue teams, were already mobilizing their crane, and people. Jewels ship would be easiest to take care of, so Amber would have to wait, to be extracted.
"Natasha, please let Doc know he will have a couple of visitors in sick bay shortly."
"He is on the way, what happened?"
"The practice flying the marauders, went very good. The landing, not so good."
"We have only just started the basics of landing. Neither Jewel or Amber have made a successful landing yet. They have crashed every time, and seldom in the landing bay."
"They both made it over the runway this time. I guess that's an improvement."
"Chief Mike is getting the initial damage report now. He wants to see you."
It was time to take my lumps. I headed to the bridge, knowing I couldn't avoid him for long.
"Are Amber and Jewel alright," Mike asked.
"Doc is checking on them. I think they are just a little shook up."
"Why did you have them trying to land, so early in their training? You could have had them brought in on auto pilot or towed in, saving us all a lot of grief."
"I thought they would be able to make such a simple landing. They handled acrobatic maneuvers, like advanced students. I was considering beginning dog fighting techniques, when we had enough trainees ready."
"And now?"
"They will need a lot more practice, before I take them out again."
"How bad is the runway?"
"It isn't bad. It could have been a lot worse."
"And the marauders?"
"I don't know the extent of the damage. Jewels ship isn't to bad. She made her landing on its belly. Amber's will take a little more work. She flipped her ship onto its back, and skidded on its it's twin tails."
"You three are very lucky. It could have been a lot worse."
Red's battleship had closed to within firing range. He demanded our immediate surrender saying, "I'm going to see you all hanged, for what you did to the space station. Surrender now, and I'll make it quick."
"Natasha, open a comm channel, all frequencies. "The Dread Pirate Roberts never surrenders. This will be a battle to the end."
"I will take great joy in collecting your bounty. If by chance your wives survive, I may purchase them for my own use."
His main guns fired, going wide of us, but putting on a good show. We fired back, using minimal power reserved for war games. Our shots were accurate, but doing no damage. Next he fired a series of rockets at us.
"Cappy, he is attacking us with fireworks."
A series of explosions detonated around us, putting on a good show for the Alliance observers. More flashes of light and smoke came from the hull of his ship, as more fireworks were detonated.
"Natasha, silence our transponder."
"Aye, aye Cappy."
We only needed a few more minutes continuing this hoax, before we could jump. Red fired several more rockets, in what was to be the grand finale. Rocket after
rocket was fired at us, detonating against our hull. Only a few retaliatory flashes, could be seen through the smoke, on his hull.
"Natasha, activate our automatic distress beacons, and prepare to enter hyperspace."
"The beacons are broadcasting, Cappy. This game is fun and exciting."
"Natasha, cut our drives, and run dark."
We played dead as Red continued to hammer our hull, with fireworks. Only the occasional flash happened against his hull. To the observers, I hoped it looked like we were heavily damaged, and Red was coming in for the kill.
When the timer reached zero, we jumped to hyperspace. If everything had gone as planned, Red should have jumped behind us, to continue the pursuit.
Chapter 21
Our jump to hyperspace was going to be a 31.1 light year trip. It exceeded our 30 light year maximum, but was still within our margin of safety. If something went wrong, I could navigate the streams, with Natasha's help. Red didn't have this advantage, I hoped he didn't encounter any problems. The length of this jump would have us in hyperspace for a little over two days.
"Every body stand down, there is nothing we can do but wait. Natasha, sound the all clear, and return to normal shifts."
I left the bridge, and headed to our quarters. Jewel, Amber, and Doc were there waiting. I was happy to see that they were both in good health.
"Nathaniel, I don't advise having the face shield down on your helmet, when you throw up. I thought I was going to drown in my own puke before I could get the helmet off," Jewel said.
"I learned that early in my career. That's why I don't wear a helmet."
"You should, it could save your life," Doc chided me.
"How is Amber?"
"She is bruised up a little, and shaken up. She will be back to normal in a few days. I gave her something for the pain, and a sedative to relax her."
"If I had crashed like that, I'd be spending at least a week in sick bay."
"It didn't do you any good then, so why bother now?"
"What do you mean?" Jewel asked.
"When Nathaniel was younger, I believe 13 years old, he crashed his first marauder."
"Doc you promised you wouldn't bring that up again."
"Did I? I seam to remember your asking me not to. But I don't recall saying that I wouldn't. He had been a squadron commander for nearly a year. We were on a raid in the Antares System, and his ship got shot up a little, by what was left of the planetary defense forces."
"It was more than just a little," I interrupted.
"Any other pilot would have shut down, or ejected, so he could be picked up by the search and rescue team."
"Doc, you know how I feel about ejecting."
"Tell us Nathaniel."
"I'm afraid to eject. I don't want to be left alone drifting in space, wondering if I was going to be picked up, or not, before my oxygen ran out. I've heard about a lot of pilots, who cut their emergency oxygen hoses, instead of waiting."
"Cowards, all of them. It took you long enough to finally admit that your afraid of ejecting. Fortunately for all of us Nathaniel was the last to land, if you can call it that. His marauder was left in pieces from one end of the runway to the other. It took over three weeks of repairs before we were able to use the runway and hanger deck again. A helmet would have saved him from a nasty concussion. The only reason he survived the crash, was because his skull is so thick."
"In my defense, one of my engines was destroyed by a missile hit. My other engine was locked on maximum thrust, with no way of throttling it down. My lateral and pitch controls were shot up, and useless. The landing gear wouldn't deploy, a loud alarm wouldn't silence, distracting me, and the eject light kept flashing in my face. The only thing I could do, was to cut off the engines fuel, just before entering the landing bay."
"The eject warning is there for a reason. You should have ejected."
"When I get up, can you tell me that story again?" Amber mumbled from the bed. "It doesn't make me feel so bad knowing Nathaniel crashed worse than I did."
"Nathaniel, spent an agonizing week in sick bay before I finally got tired of him and kicked his lazy butt out."
Doc left us, laughing on his way out.
"I don't feel so bad either," Jewel said.
Natty, entered our cabin. "I just wanted to make sure Amber and Jewel were okay."
"Jewel is fine, and Amber is sleeping off Doc's medication."
"I still feel lonely and sad."
"Why aren't you with Tanya?"
"She is busy having sex with her new friends, I am not in the mood to join them."
"Natty, I've never seen you not in the mood. Are you sure you don't want Kim to take a look at you."
"I'm sure."
"Did you know that Jewel is extremely ticklish?"
"Nathaniel... ."
That was all that Jewel was able to say before Natty was on her. It was an extraordinary tickle battle. Jewel rolled into a ball on the floor as Natty attacked her sides and belly. They both screeched with delight, tickling each other. Jewel managed to roll on top of Natty, pinning her. She turned around, grabbing her feet and nibbled Natty's toes and tickled her feet. Natty screeched loud in delight. Somehow Natty got her arms free, and attacked Jewels sides. She managed to roll on top of Jewel pinning her, and retaliated by nibbling Jewels toes and tickling her feet.
"I give up," Jewel managed to get out between shrieks and laughter. "Natty, look at what you made me do."
"I wet myself a little too. I feel much better now."
Natty and Jewel undressed, and entered the shower. From the sounds of shrieks and laughter, the battle had resumed. It was several minutes before the laughter subsided, and the girls exited from the shower. They toweled off, and Natty left us.
"Natty, your clothes."
"I don't need them. I'm going to have sex with my sister wife and her new friends."
Jewel eased herself into the hot tub, beckoning for me to join her.
"I don't know how, but I will get you back for that."
"I know that you enjoyed it, as much, or more than I enjoyed watching."
I undressed, and climbed into the hot tub with Jewel, and passionately kissed her.
"So who one?"
"Natty, of course. She is relentless. I thought I might have had her for a minute when I got hold of her feet. Then she got mine again."
I lifted Jewel out of the hot tub.
"Aren't you going to wait for Amber?"
"I'll make it up to her when she is feeling better."
"What about the pills."
"We won't need them."
I made love with Jewel at the edge of the hot tub. For her, it was the best experience of her life. For the first time, it wasn't just the physical pleasure she received, she also felt the waves of passion and love that accompanied the act. This put her in a kind of sensory overload. For a short while, all she could do is lay, and relish the experience she just had.
I scooped her up and carried her to bed, and gently laid her on its mattress.
"Nathaniel is it like this, between you and Amber all the time?"
"It keeps getting better everyday."
"I can't imagine anything better than that was. How long do we wear these discs?
"Just a couple of weeks, then the bond becomes permanent. It will continue to grow stronger even without them."
"Thank you for the best time of my life."
I laid down between Amber and Jewel. We snuggled up together. Amber mumbled, "Mmm that was good." I dimmed
the lights, and fell asleep.
"Nathaniel, get up. I'm hungry and Rosie fixed us all breakfast, before leaving." Between Jewels insistent shaking me, and the word breakfast, followed by the smell of fresh coffee, I came half awake. "Hurry up Nathaniel, you know I need a nightie to get out of bed. You should have dressed me before putting me to bed."
I still couldn't figure that out. She wasn't shy about getting undressed, or walking about the staterooms naked. But getting out of bed, in the morning, was totally different with her.
I grudgingly got out of bed to find Jewel something to wear.
"Bring me something too."
"Amber, you are already wearing a nightie."
"When did that happen?"
"I would guess, sometime between leaving sickbay and going to bed."
"I don't remember any of that."
"Doc had you medicated pretty good, maybe a little to good."
I searched the floor, but Rosie had already gathered our clothes and laundered them. I took the few extra steps necessary to bring me to their wardrobes, and grabbed the first outfit I saw. I stopped in the galley and filled a mug with coffee, before returning to the bedroom.
"That's not a nightie, its a babydoll." She took the outfit anyhow, dressing as I drank my coffee and admired her body.
"Nathaniel, I'm still stiff and sore. Help me get up." I picked Amber up and carried her into the common room. Instead of setting her down in the galley, I put her in the hot tub, nightie and all."
"Nathaniel ... ."
"Stay there. I will bring breakfast to you."
"Jewel passed me a plate and mug of juice for Amber. I took it to her, then joined Jewel in the galleys dining area. I wolfed down a plate of bacon, eggs, and home fries. Then relaxed savoring another mug of coffee. The way the girls were eating, I hoped they had the stomach to keep there meals down.
I planned on spending the whole day in the flight simulator, if needed, to get Amber and Jewel up to par on their landing skills. It still bugged me about the way they crashed, and kept crashing in their simulation training.
